The trip started out Wednesday morning for a visit to the Benzonia/Beulah area where Tommy M. and his family reside. His house resides in the "car an hour" area which I haven't witnessed since my last Keweenau Peninsula visit; you pretty much will only see one car an hour. With that, it made for a nice pavement pedal around the area until....a hungry (and quite pissed off) pit bull came running out of a house for us and was not stopping to see if we had any treats. Our leisurely pedal became a Tour de France pace as this dog was not slowing down. Thankfully there were no hospital visits as the dog didn't get to rip any flesh but the heart rate went from about 60 to a couple hundred pretty fast there.
The destination Thursday morning was Harbor Springs, specifically Boyne Highlands; a new trail for me. I got there about 8:30 AM and asked the help desk where the trails started. I was advised that the trails all take place at the top of the ski runs (large forest up there) and that the chair lift doesn't take riders up the hill until 2:00 PM. Another option was to pedal up; and pedal up I did. It was about a mile up but 'zigged' and 'zagged' so it wasn't that bad of a ball breaker but got the blood moving. The rain held off until I got done and a fun loop it was.
The trip then headed south along the Lake Michigan side with a destination of South Haven, a place last visited with a friend back in the late 80's. I even stayed at the same dive motel from the 80's but couldn't locate the bar that had the best chicken fingers EVER. I wouldn't give such a shout out for chicken fingers as most places have the cookie-cutter/average kind but these were different. I was sure the one establishment I went to was it but was told otherwise and most of the wait staff wasn't even alive when I last came through. Oh well, the shrimp were delicious.
Friday morning's ride took me to Fort Custer Recreation Area in Augusta, just on the outskirts of Battle Creek; also a new trail for me. Blue skies, a nice firm trail, no dogs running for my giblets and my music player adding to the utopia, I had it all.
Thank you Michigan.
Trail Head
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| top of a about a mile climb - Boyne Highlands |
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| trail head - Fort Custer |
